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Background: Medical academia is in crisis, with fewer people entering and growing concern at numbers leaving. While faculty development is often seen as part of the solution, there are significant issues with faculty not engaging with and resisting development opportunities. Lack of motivation may be linked to what might be called a 'weak' educator identity. We studied medical educators' experiences of career development to gain further insights into: how professional identity may develop; individuals' accompanying emotional responses to perceived identity change; and consideration of the accompanying temporal dimensions. Drawing on new materialist sociology, we explore medical educator identity formation in terms of an affective flow that places the individual within a constantly shifting assemblage of psychological, emotional and social relations., Method: We interviewed 20 medical educators at various career stages, with differing strengths of medical educator self-identity. Using an adapted transition model as a basis for understanding the emotions experienced by those undergoing identity transitions, we explore the process that, for some medical educators, appears to lead to decreased motivation, ambiguous identity and disengagement, but for others results in renewed energy, a stronger and more stable professional identity and increased interest and engagement., Results: By more effectively illustrating the emotional impact of the transition process leading to a more stable educator identity, we show that some individuals, especially where the change was not sought or welcomed, express their uncertainty and distress through low mood, resistance and an attempt to minimise the significance of undertaking or increasing teaching duties., Discussion: Understanding the emotional and developmental phases of the transition to medical educator identity has several key implications for faculty development. Faculty development approaches should be alert to the individual educator's stage of transition since this will affect that individual's readiness to accept and respond to guidance, information and support. A renewed emphasis on early educational approaches that will support the transformational and reflective learning of the individual is needed, while traditional approaches emphasising skills and knowledge may be more useful in the later stages. Further testing of the transition model and its applicability to identity development in medical education is indicated., (© 2023 The Authors. Medical Education published by Association for the Study of Medical Education and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The notion of "threshold concepts" is being widely applied and researched in many disciplines but is rarely discussed within medical education. This article is written by three medical educators who regularly draw on threshold concept theory in their work. They explore here the nature of threshold concepts and describe how the theory can offer medical educators new perspectives in terms of how they design curricula, approach teaching and support learners.

Background: Modern medical education teaching and learning approaches now lay emphasis on students acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes relevant to medical practice., Aims: To explore students' perceived impacts of using hands-on approaches involving peer/life model physical examination and palpation in teaching and learning living human anatomy on their practice of physical examination of real patients., Methods: This study used exploratory focus groups and a questionnaire survey of years 3-5 medical students., Results: The focus group discussions revealed new insights into the positive impacts of the hands-on approaches on students' clinical skills and professional attitudes when dealing with patients. Students' exposure to the hands-on approaches helped them to feel comfortable with therapeutically touching unclothed patients' bodies and physically examining them in the clinical environment. At least 60% of the questionnaire survey respondents agreed with the focus group participants on this view. Over 75% also agreed that the hands-on experiences helped them develop good professional attitudes in their encounter with patients., Conclusions: This study highlights the perceived educational value of the hands-on approaches as a pedagogic tool with a positive impact on students' clinical skills and professional attitudes that helps in easing their transition into clinical practice.